The U.S. company that repairs Iraq’s American-made M1A1 Abrams tanks has pulled many of its people from Iraq after at least nine of the armored vehicles ended up in the hands of pro-Iran militias. Now, many of Iraq’s tanks are immobilized for want of maintenance, potentially jeopardizing the country’s ongoing campaign against Islamic State militants. While the Islamic State has retreated from large swaths of Iraq it once controlled, mobile groups of militants continue to stage attacks on Iraqi troops and their allies. An Islamic State attack near the city of Hawija in mid-February reportedly killed 27 militiamen fighting for Baghdad.

India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) successfully tested its indigenously designed and developed third-generation anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) Nag in desert conditions against two tank targets on February 28, according to an Indian Ministry of Defense (MoD) press release. The tests “have once again proved its capability,” the statement reads. “With this, the developmental trials of the missile have been completed and it is now ready for induction.” The Indian Army has so far not publicly commented on the successful Nag ATGM test. Notably, DRDO had announced the completion of development trials already in September 2017.

Turkey may try to build an unmanned tank. That’s according to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Speaking at a meeting at the presidential palace on February 21, Erdoğan declared: “We will carry it a step further [after domestically produced unmanned aerial vehicles] . . . We should reach the ability to produce unmanned tanks as well. We will do it.” Erdoğan’s comments came weeks after five Turkish soldiers were killed in a tank while fighting in Syria’s Afrin district. Ankara has deployed military forces in Syria to battle Kurds in the neighboring country.

An order placed by the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) for two battalions of T-14 main battle tanks (MBTs) and a battalion of T-15 heavy infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) has been confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD). “It’s no secret that we already have a contract for trials and combat operations: two battalions of Armata tanks and one battalion of heavy infantry fighting vehicles,” Deputy Defence Minister Yuri Borisov was quoted as saying by the MoD during a tour of the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil on 9 February.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) currently fields the world’s largest active service main battle tank (MBT) force, according to an analysis published in the newly released Military Balance 2018 report, produced by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS). As of 2017, the PLA’s operational tank fleet is composed of roughly 3,390 third-generation, 400 second-generation, and 2,850 first-generation MBTs. In comparison, in 1997 the force consisted of 6,200 first-generation and 1,600 second-generation MBTs.

SEOUL — South Korea’s K2 main battle tank is to be equipped with a German transmission system, a part of the tank’s powerpack that includes a locally-developed engine. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced Feb. 7 that its top decision-making body, presided over by Defense Minister Song Young-moo, made a decision to adopt the German RENK transmission system for the production of a second batch of 106 K2 tanks.